Electric bond for rail joints



Sept. 21, 1937. w. v. MOAK ET AL 1 ELECTRIC BOND FOR RAIL JOINTS Filed June 11, 1936 INVENTOR. MAL/AM L/ Ma/m BY MAS/0E1? 7' f/nMsu/v ,fime m ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 21, 1937 2,093,8lt

UNlTED STATES PATENT QFFIE.

ELECTRIC BOND FOR RAIL JOINTS William V. Moak, Springfield, and Jasper Thomas Hamblin, La Rue, Ohio Application June 11, 1936, Serial No. 84,720

1 Claim. (01. 173-279) This invention relates to improvements in de connects the portions I! and ll? of the fish plate.

vices for making electric bonds in the joints be- Each of the bolts l3 has a nut 20 thereon and a tween railroad rails, and has for its object the lock washer 2| between the nut and the other side provision of a comparatively inexpensive device of the web IS, in accordance with the common 5 that will form an efficient bond and give dependpractice. 5 able service over long periods of time. As shown in Fig. 1, the fish plates 12 bridge the A further object of the invention is to provide joint 22 between the ends of the rails I9 and H a simple device, for the purposes stated, that will and, in accordance with our invention, we utilize not require the services of skilled workmen for one of these fish plates, at each rail joint, as an 10 its application and that may be readily installed electric conductor for carrying current from one by the ordinary laborers that are employed on of the rails to the other. In various forms of railroads for the purpose of maintaining the signal apparatus used on railroads it is customary trackage. to utilize one or both of the rails of a track as part A further object of the invention is to provide of the electrical circuit for controlling the signals a device of the kind specified that will be housed and it is, therefore, necessary to have an efficient 15 in the space between the fish plate and the rail bonding device between the ends of adjoining and thus protected from damage by malicious or rails. The mere contact of the fish plate with mischievous persons or by objects falling from the rail surfaces does not afiord a satisfactory trains. electrical connection because of the scale on the A further object of the invention is to provide surfaces, the accumulation of rust, and the pres- 2 a device for the purposes specified in Which the ence of other substances that would act more or fish plate will be utilized as a conductor for conless as insulators between the abutting surfaces veying an electric current from one rail to the and, therefore, form an interruption in the elecnext, thereby avoiding the use of special conductrical circuit. tors for that purpose. In accordance with our invention we employ a 25 A further object of the invention is to provide specially constructed helical spring in the space a more efficient rail bonding device than those between the web I9 of the fish plate and the web heretofore used, through utilizing the fish plate It of the rail and, in Fig. 2, we have shown one as a part of the circuit so that a break in the cirof these springs, which is indicated generally by cuit may serve as an indication of a broken fish the numeral 22. One of these springs is shown 30 plate as well as a broken rail. in its free condition, in Figs. 3 and 4, and, from Other objects of the invention and the features these figures, it will be seen that the spring conof novelty will be apparent from the following desists of substantially a single convolution of a scription taken in connection with the accomhelix made from comparatively heavy wire stock panying drawing, in which with the end portions 23 and 24 bent in the axial 35 Fig. l is a side elevation of a rail joint embodydirection so as to have a greater pitch than the ing our invention; body of the spring and to provide prominent cut- Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse section on the ting edges 25 which are adapted to gouge into the line 22 of Fig. 1, with some of the parts shown web of the fish plate and the web of the rail when in perspective; the spring is installed as shown in Fig. 2. The 40 Fig. 3 is a view of one of the springs made in size of the wire stock is indicated in the drawing accordance with our invention; and in relation to the dimensions of the parts with Fig. 4 is a side elevation thereof. which the spring 22 is associated and,-in order to Referring to the drawing, l0 and H indicate insure adequate tension in the spring, it will be the ends of two rails which are connected tO- noted that its free length is several times the 45 gether by the fish plates l2 and bolts 13, in acthickness of the stock and preferably not less cordance with common practice in modern rail than three times, although this free length will, construction. Each of the rails has a head M, a of course, be dependent upon the size of the space foot flange l5 and a Webl6 connecting the head between the fish plate and the web of the rail. and the foot flange. Each of the fish plates has As shown in this figure, the spring 22 also bears 50 a portion I! which fits the angle between the head against the web iii of the rail at the point 26 and I4 and the web i6, and a flange l8 which bears against the web of the fish plate at the point 21, upon the upper surface of the foot flange l5. A the points 26 and 2'! being on diametrally oppoweb l9 arranged substantially parallel with the site sides of the spring. 65 web IE, but spaced therefrom, as shown in Fig. 2, As many of the springs 22 may be used in each joint as may be preferred, but at least one of them should be used. in connection with a bolt l3 going through each rail. In installing the spring 22 the parts are loosely assembled in the relation shown in Fig. 2, and the nuts 20 are tightened to draw the fish plates tightly against the rail and, in so doing, the springs 22 are axially compressed and the cutting edges 25 are caused to gouge into the web 58 of the fish plate and the web it of the rail, thereby making a good contact so that the current from the rail will pass through the spring and into the fish plate and thence along the fish plate and through another of the springs 22 into the adjoining rail.

From the foregoing description it will be noted that each of the springs 22 contacts with the Web of the. rail at two points and with the web of the fish plate at two points. The springs 22 may be of such diameter that they will engage the fish plate at the points 28 and 29 so as to be confined against radial expansion and positively held against movement in any direction, although it is not essential to have the springs engage with the fish plate at the points 28 and 29 and the engagement should not be such that it would prevent the fish plate from being drawn up to its proper position in relation to the rail. It will be seen further that We provide for a plurality of points of contact between the spring and rail and between the spring and the fish plate which insures good electrical conduction and, by reason of the spring being confined by the shoulders of the fish plate, these points of contact are maintained.

On account of the springs being housed between the fish plate and the web of the rail, as shown in Fig. 2, it is evident that they are thoroughly protected and concealed and not subject to being damaged by objects falling from rolling stock or subject to corrosion by brine or other liquid materials which might drip onto the rails. The springs are also protected from damage by malicious or mischievous persons.

In addition to the foregoing advantages of our bonding device, it has the further advantage that it will serve as an indication of a broken fish plate as well as a broken rail in case of an interruption in the circuit. In bonding devices heretofore used, the ends of the rails are connected together by a separate conductor so that the current does not pass through the fish plate and, therefore, there would be no interruption of the circuit in the case of a broken fish plate.

While we have illustrated and described a preferred form of our invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the cross section of the spring stock and in other details without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

In a rail bonding device, the combination with a rail having a cross-section comprising a head, a foot flange and a web connecting the head and flange, a fish plate having a web substantially parallel with and spaced from the web of the rail and portions engaging the head and foot flange of the rail including portions offset laterally toward the rail web and providing vertically spaced longitudinally extending shoulders, and a bolt extending through said webs and securing the rail and fish plate together, of a spring substantially in the form of a single convolution of a helix surrounding said bolt and positioned in the space between said webs, the end portions of said spring being bent axially of the helix and having a greater axial pitch than the body of the spring so that each of said end portions will have a prominent cutting edge thereon, one of said edges being adapted to gouge into the web of the rail and the other into the web of the fish plate when the spring is compressed between said Webs, the body of said spring having its periphery in engagement with said shoulder portions of said fish plate on opposite sides of said bolt and the sides of said spring bearing on the web of the rail and the web of the fish plate so that the spring has at least two points of contact with each of said webs to thereby insure good electrical conduction and is confined in the space between the webs, and said spring being so formed that the free axial length is more than three times the thickness, axially of the helix, of the stock of which the spring is made.

WILLIAM V. MOAK. JASPER THOMAS HAMBLIN. 

